Whitewash Aussies and England move to No 1...

Australia's Michael Clarke
(left) and England's Alastair
Cook see the funny side of
things at Lord's Getty Images; Reuters

Alastair Cook rapped out a warning to cricket yesterday as he contemplated leading the world's best one-day side. All England have to do to reach the summit and thus be ranked No 1 in all formats of the game is beat Australia 5-0 in the series which starts at Lord's today, and Cook was in no doubt that his side have what it takes.

True, it was necessary to read between the lines to some degree
as he pondered the notion. But presumably that is what he meant
when he said: "It would be an amazing achievement but I don't want
to be quoted saying stuff which gets blown out of proportion.

"We're going to have to be at our absolute best to try to win
the series. We are very much a developing one-day side and we're
desperate to keep going up the rankings. But let's not get too
carried away. We have got plenty of stuff to keep improving on,
trying to get good results. Over the next 10 days we have a chance
to do that."

Despite worries of overkill, the series appears to have caught
the public imagination. Tickets have sold well and there is no sign
at present, it seems, of the longest surviving international
contest in sport losing its allure. In anybody's book, whatever its
real pertinence, this is a precursor to the Ashes next summer.

Perhaps Cook, who looked like he had swallowed a fly, was as
astounded as everybody else at England's potential climb up the
rankings. But according to the International Cricket Council
predictor, a clean sweep will see England leap from fourth to
first.

It requires a leap of faith and imagination to think it may be
possible, which is probably why Cook was so careful in declining to
be drawn on the matter. England have beaten Australia 3-0 at home
before and in 2010 led a three-match series 3-0 before losing the
final two matches.

Under Cook's leadership they are making progress, having won
their last six matches and their last six series at home. But it
also has to be remembered that this is the side who were defeated
5-0 in India last autumn. Only the rankings, which contrive to make
the Duckworth-Lewis System look as easy as 1-2-3, could suggest
that England are the No 1 side.

For now that title belongs to Australia. Michael Clarke, who
took over the captaincy permanently after the World Cup last year,
has won 11 of his 18 games since then. They remain nobody's mugs.
But this Australia are different. They are a young team trying to
hang on to their status while in the process of being rebuilt. Of
their probable XI at Lord's today, five have never toured England
before. Clarke was as sober in his judgment as Cook. If the sides
play with the reserve they talk, we could be heading for dullsville
by the time the series is done.

Clarke said: "England are playing some really good cricket and
they've had a lot of success in their own backyard so we know it's
going to be really tough cricket and we're going to have to be at
our best to compete with them. I guess it's been a little bit
colder here these last few weeks than these young guys are
accustomed to."

Poor lambs. What this really needed was Glenn McGrath to walk in
from one wing and say that obviously Australia would win 5-0 and he
was astounded that anyone could think otherwise, and Nasser Hussain
from the other wing wearing his heart on his sleeve and saying
Australia would at the least know they had been in a fight.

England's recent form, and pitches that continue to grant some
movement, should give them the edge. Australia's bowling attack
contains some bright young talents in Patrick Cummins at 19 and
James Pattinson at 23 but they are still learning how to play the
game in different places. England's attack is the real deal
anywhere.

Three of the tourists stand out before a ball is bowled. Cummins
has abundant amounts of that raw pace which has excited observers
throughout history. In his only Test, he bowled out South Africa,
and the air of expectancy surrounding him is undeniable. It would
be marvellous to see him accompanied by Brett Lee, who has retained
the speed and the lust for life which has always made him
compelling viewing. David Warner at the top of the order has blazed
a trail wherever he has gone since his transformation from being a
club player two years ago. When he hits the ball it stays that way
and he has defied most observers by taking his brand of batting
into the Test arena and making it work. But he will never have
experienced anything like the relentlessness of England's attack,
and whatever they say about this not being a dress rehearsal, he
can make Ashes points or lose them.

England may win, if not 5-0, though Cook, eventually, showed a
rare moment of candour when asked if the World Cup was more
important than the rankings. "I don't know. Actually I do know. If
someone said do you want to be No 1 in the world or win the World
Cup I would take the World Cup."